Toms River Restaurant Fires Staff Member Amid Backlash Over Burger Named After Proud Boys
A Toms River, New Jersey restaurant, Aqua Blu, has fired one of its staff members amid widespread backlash over the addition of a burger named after the Proud Boys, a right-wing extremist group. The burger, called the “Proud Boys Burger,” was added to the menu on Thursday as part of the restaurant’s weekly “burger night” specials.
The description of the burger, which featured phrases such as “layers of truth, resilience pickles, freedom fries, cancel culture coleslaw, and liberty sauce,” drew swift outrage on social media, with many decrying the restaurant’s apparent support for the Proud Boys, who have been linked to the January 6th Capitol riots and have a history of promoting hate ideologies, including antisemitism and white supremacy.
The restaurant quickly issued an apology on its Facebook page, saying that the burger name was a “mistake” and that it did not intend to promote hate or support the Proud Boys. The restaurant also thanked its customers for their understanding and promised to “reflect and learn” from the experience.
However, the apology came too late, as the restaurant had already faced widespread backlash and criticism on social media. The outrage continued to spread, with many calling for customers to boycott the restaurant.
In a statement, the restaurant’s owner, Cathy Varriale, described the burger as a “bad decision” and “ignorance.” She said that the staff member who created the burger description had done so as a way to honor a colleague’s husband, who had just returned from deployment, but that the restaurant has no connection to the Proud Boys.
The restaurant also announced that it had fired the staff member responsible for creating the burger description, saying that it did not support hatred or any form of hate speech.
Despite the backlash, some customers have come to the restaurant’s defense, saying that they will start patronizing the business in response to the anger the burger name created.